


Pyro/Medic Week

by DeckofDragons



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Cuddles, Fire, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Mental Illness, Shipping Challenge, cute stuff, one shots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-25 22:47:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16669843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: A series of mostly unrelated one shots about Pyro and Medic being in love.The prompts were:Day One: First MeetingDay Two: AU of your choiceDay Three: Affection\TendernessDay Four: CookingDay Five: Post WarDay Six: HolidayDay Seven: Free Day





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to participate in a shipping challenge week for awhile and then this one came alone right when I was starting to get into the BurnWard ship so I decided to do it, yay! Now BurnWard is my fav TF2 ship because of this. xD
> 
> Also, I don't write Medic's (or any of the other mercs') accents because it feels and looks weird to me to write them out like that even though I can hear them in my head. I also know I wouldn't write them well and it would have the potential to be mildly offensive so I don't. Y'all know what their accents, just read their dialogue in their accent. :)

“When you were doing whatever it is you do in your lab thingy there, you missed the new guy coming in,” Demoman said as Medic entered the base’s kitchen. After almost a month of working with him Medic was more used to his accent but it still took him a couple seconds to grasp his words.

Medic paused and turned to face him. “What?”

“A new guy joined, Miss Pauling says he’s a pyrotechnics guru or something when she brought him in. He’s got a flamethrower.”

“And you didn’t come get me?” A new member being added to their fledging team was important, Medic should’ve been informed right away. It was his _job_ to keep the team alive – experimenting on them was the reward he got for doing so and would be part of it in some cases – so it was _important_ he be made aware of such developments as soon as possible.

“Nah, didn’t think to.” Demoman shrugged and took a drink from his bottle. “You can go meet him now though, he’s uh… around somewhere doing whatever it is pyromancer people do.”

Medic rolled his eyes and held back a groan as he turned and left the kitchen again. Hopefully this new teammate would at least prove to be less infuriating than Demoman, not that that would be hard.

 

It took almost half an hour to find the new guy, longer than it should’ve taken given the size of the base. He was outside, seemingly just wondering around. Any doubt Medic might have had about if he’d found the right guy or some random stranger was negated by the fireproof suit, complete with gas mask, he wore. The exact thing someone’s who job it was to set things on fire would be wearing.

“Hallo,” Medic greeted him with a raised hand.

The new guy turned to face him. He said something that might’ve been a ‘hello’ but it was muffled and indistinct by his mask.

“What’s with the sticks?” Medic asked with a frown, pointing to the bundle of sticks the other guy carried.

He answered enthusiastically but it was mumbling nonsense. This was off to a _great_ start.

“Take off the mask, I can’t understand you,” Medic cut him off.

He froze before vigorously shaking his head, hard enough that it looked almost like he was trying to shake something off. Clearly he did _not_ want to take his mask off, that would make communicating with him hard but he undoubtedly had his reasons and thus they’d just have to work with it somehow.

“Fine, but I still need to run perform a physical examination on you.” Medic needed to know what physical condition all his patients were in, both to perform his job properly and to know just what kind of experiments would be least likely to kill them. “I am the team’s medic, you can call me ‘Medic’ or ‘Doctor’.” The nicknames hadn’t been his idea but it was probably best that he minimize the number of people who knew his real name in this part of the world in case – more like _when_ – he did something that caught the attention of the authorities. “Now come with me, I’ll even introduce you to my birds.” He’d just finished setting up their aviary last week.

But all he got in reply was another headshake accompanied by a negative grunt before his companion turned away and resumed walking to wherever he’d been going. He was talking too, maybe trying to explain where he was headed but his words were indecipherable. Annoyed but also curious, Medic followed.

It didn’t take long to reach what was obviously their destination: a large pile of neatly stacked flammable things as if he was getting ready for a large bonfire. He’d clearly been gathering this stuff for a while, there was even what looked to be the base’s entire supply of firewood added in too. He added the bundle of sticks he was carrying to the pile, placing them neatly. He then stepped back and clapped his hands before reaching down to grab a gas canister at his feet. It was full judging by the way he lifted it and the sloshing sound it made.

“I don’t think that’s a good place for a bonfire,” Medic said with a frown. “Especially one so big.” It was _way_ too close to the base for comfort.

But he was ignored as the fellow walked around the perimeter of the soon to be bonfire, pouring liberal amounts of gasoline onto it. Once the gas can was _empty_ , he tossed it aside and pulled out a lighter.

“Nein!” Medic stepped forward to stop him but it was already too late. The gas lit up as soon as the lighter’s flame touched it. With how much gasoline had been added everything caught on fire _fast_.

The heat forced Medic back. In hindsight he probably should’ve done something to stop the clearly crazed pyromaniac from starting a bonfire as soon he realized his intentions. But it was too late now.

Laughter and clapping accompanied the crackling sound of fire. The new guy was watching it all with apparent glee, silhouetted by the flames he was jumping up and down, clapping. Well, they were being hired to kill people so sanity wasn’t exactly a job requirement.

“Bloody hell.”

Medic turned his head to see that Sniper had left his caravan. Heavy, Engie, and Demoman – all their other members right now – had left the base too. They were all watching the flames, their expressions mirroring how Medic felt.”

“We uh might want to get that under control, before it spreads to the base, it ain’t exactly fireproof,” Engie said.

“Yep,” Demoman said,

 

It took all five of them and well over an hour to contain and kill the blaze. It _did_ spread to the base but they got it under control before it did too much damage and _thankfully_ Demon’s explosives were all the way on the other side. It was their first time doing something as a team, minus the person who’d started the fire anyway.

“There, there, no need to be upset, we all get a little carried away sometimes,” Medic said as he led the pyromaniac to the medical area. The others had all scolded him after they’d put out the fire completely and now he walked with his head hung and shoulders slumped.

There was no point in scolding him further so Medic refrained. He’d be hypocrite if he did anyway, his own passions often drove him to get carried away and ended with at least one person’s life being endangered or sometimes ended. He’d been yelled at about that more than once for that, the latest time had even led to his medical license being wrongfully taken away. And since no one had died or been seriously injured here it didn’t really matter as far as he was concerned.

The pyromaniac mumbled something in response, still sounding down. Oh well, he’d get over it, just like the others would get over their anger with him. Sanity wasn’t a job requirement here, they all knew that, they’d just need to make sure he only set the right things and people on fire.

Once in the checkup room, Medic did as thorough of a physical examination as he could on someone wearing a fireproof suit. It wasn’t ideal but his patient’s refusal to take it off meant he just had to deal with it, he’d work on getting him to take it off later. During the whole process his patient remained dejected though so…

“Would you like a lollipop?” Medic offered once he was done. He’d found that candy was a good motivator even for adults sometimes, it was easier to get people to sit still for things when they were being offered a reward.

The pyromaniac perked up immediately and nodded, even lifting his hand for in a thumbs up. Medic reached into his desk drawer and pulled one out. He handed it over and it disappeared into a pocket, presumably to be consumed later when there was no one around to see what was under the mask.

“Now onto business,” Medic said as he tapped his pen over the notes he’d taken on his new patient. “Your name?” Miss Pauling would know – probably – but Medic wasn’t going to ask her – she probably wouldn’t give it to him anyway – he wanted it from the man himself. So, he offered a clean sheet of paper and the pen.

His patient shook his head though. Not as vigorously as he had when Medic had asked him to remove his mask but still harder than necessary.

“Fine, we all go by nicknames here anyway.” And Medic didn’t need to know his patients’ real names to work on them. “So you get one too, okay?”

His patient nodded, giving Medic another thumbs up.

Now Medic had to come up with a nickname for him. Luckily it wasn’t hard to think of one. “How about ‘Pyro’ since you like fire so much?”

He took a few seconds to think about it before nodding, saying something under his mask that might’ve been ‘I like that,’.

“Pyro, it is then.”

Before Medic could say anything else, Pyro slid off the examination table and pulled Medic into a hug which he was not at all ready for. He froze up as Pyro squeezed him a bit harder than was necessary and for longer than necessary too.

“Uh… okay then,” he said when Pyro finally stepped back.

Whatever Pyro’s response was couldn’t be made out past his mask.

“Let’s go tell everyone about your new nickname then.”

Pyro responded with obvious enthusiasm, clapping. Either he’d forgotten the others had killed his bonfire and were mad at him for almost burning the base down or he didn’t care anymore. Whatever though, he was undoubtedly going to prove to be an interesting patient, Medic couldn’t wait to experiment on him.


	2. AU of Your Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose a soulmate AU because a friend of my is writing a soulmate AU fic, it's what gave me the idea.

Being stealthy wasn’t really Medic’s thing, often when he tried he ended up bumping into and knocking over at least one thing that made a loud noise. He’d drugged everyone though and thus they were all asleep and wouldn’t wake for pretty much anything, making stealth unnecessary. He was still nervous though and had to resist the urge to look around to make sure no one was watching him.

Before leaving he checked on Demoman to make sure the sedatives hadn’t combined with the alcohol to kill him. He was still breathing though, even mumbling in his sleep, so he’d be fine… probably. Medic replaced his bottle of booze with one filled with water instead, he’d need it when he woke up, before moving on.

Outside of the base, the car was parked haphazardly half in the grass and half in the driveway. The keys dangled in Medic’s hand as he approached, fighting the urge to look back to make sure no one was watching him. Even if they were he could easily lie and say he was headed to town for medical supplies and/or stuff for his birds. He needed to do so soon anyway, might even do so once he’d finished with what he was planning.

No one would have any reason to even _suspect_ he was bound for the enemy’s base, they were _expressly_ forbidden from going there no matter the reason. But Medic _had_ to. He needed to make sure he was mistaken about what he’d felt earlier. It had just been an odd delusion brought on by the heat of battle and the stress of keeping everyone alive. After he’d ensured that was the case he’d come right back here and pretend to be mystified when everyone woke up from their drugged slumber, he’d even lightly drug himself to minimize the suspicion that would undoubtedly be leveled towards him.

“Hello!”

Medic physically jumped back away from the car, almost dropping the keys which he’d been about to use to unlock the driver side door. He snapped around to face whoever was behind him. His first reaction was fear followed by that nice warm feeling that meant he was looking at his soulmate – how he knew that that’s what that meant was impossible to say but he did.

“Soulmates!” His voice was muffled by his gas mask but he was speaking loud and clear enough that he could be understood through it. He was clearly more excited about this than Medic was. “I’m Pyro, I brought you a flower,” was probably what he said judging based off the way he extended a hand towards Medic, holding a plastic rose.

Medic frowned but accepted the flower, being careful not to touch Pyro’s hand even though they both wore gloves. This was the _last_ thing he’d wanted, he couldn’t be soul mates with an enemy, he’d lose his job if the Administer found out, and he liked this job – nowhere else would he be allowed to experiment on his patients without facing at least a lawsuit. But his heart told him he was facing his soulmate who was dressed in blue while he was in red.

“I’m Medic.” Pyro hadn’t given his real name so neither did Medic, he was starting to prefer the nickname anyway. “But us being soulmates doesn’t have to mean anything.” There were instances where soulmates didn’t work out… they were rare though. How inconvenient. The whole idea of meeting his soulmate was inconvenient, he’d been hoping for a while now that he’d either never met his or he was one of the lucky few who didn’t have one.

Pyro’s answering mumble was sounded almost confused and sad. When he caught on that Medic couldn’t understand him though he spoke up, enunciating and using hand gestures to back up his words. “You don’t like me?”

Medic almost said ‘yes’ just to avoid all the trouble that this had potential to cause but… he couldn’t. “No, that’s… not it.” He took a deep breath as he tucked the blue plastic rose into his upper coat pocket so that only its head poked out. “I was just saying that not every soulmate couple works out.”

“We will.”

“You don’t know that.” There was a lot going against them, namely the fact that their jobs made them enemies.

“I do.” Pyro said it with so much confidence Medic couldn’t think of a response. They’d just have to wait and see what happened in the future. “Date?” He held out his hand again, open this time.

Medic should decline but he’d already drugged his entire team, he had plenty of time before they woke up. So he accepted Pyro’s hand. Pyro used it pull him close and hug him tight, it was unexpected but not unpleasant, ~~he liked it actually~~ and thus he easily endured it.

Pyro then stepped back and took his hand to start leading him somewhere. He was half skipping but held Medic’s hand tight as if he feared losing him. Going along with this would give Medic a chance to learn more about this soulmate business. So this was for science, _not_ because he wanted to get to know his soulmate better or because he cared or anything like that. Meaning it was perfectly okay for him to do it.

“How’d you get here?” he asked. There weren’t any vehicles around as far as he could tell.

“Walked,” Pyro replied, slumping his shoulders as if to exaggerate how exhausted that had made him

“That’s a long way to walk.”

“Yes, feet hurt, tired. But it was worth it.” Pyro sprung back up with a small skip. It was… endearing.

“You won’t have to walk back, I’ll drive you part of the way at least.” It was the least Medic could do. Pyro gave him a thumbs up with his other hand.

A short time later Pyro pulled them to a stop next to an unlit campfire. Pyro then finally let go of Medic’s hand to pull out a lighter. He held it towards Medic and said something unintelligible, forgetting to speak clearly in his excitement. But the offer was obvious.

“Want me to light it?” Medic asked as he accepted the lighter. Pyro nodded enthusiastically so with a shrug he bent down and flicked the lighter until flame caught on the tinder. Soon they had a nice blaze going and Pyro was clapping loudly about it as he settled down to sit on the ground next to it.

Medic had never been on a date before but even he knew this was an odd one. But seeing the simple joy that the campfire gave Pyro brought a smile to his face as he settled down next to him. “Here,” he said, offering the lighter back.

Pyro turned his head and paused for a few seconds before shaking it in a vigorous ‘no’. He closed both of Medic’s hands around the lighter. “Keep it?” he said.

“Sure.” Medic pulled it back to look at it closer. It had a blue flame symbol on the front and back, the same logo on Pyro’s suit. He’d have to keep it hidden from the others lest they deduce his relationship – could this even be called a relationship yet? – with Pyro based off it.

He pocketed it and settled down to watch the flames with Pyro. They were pretty, though it was clear Pyro saw more in them than Medic did. There, another reason Medic could continue to pursue this soulmate relationship with Pyro, to learn what _he_ saw in the flames.  They just had to keep it a secret and everything would be fine.


	3. Affection/Tenderness

Pyro didn’t get sick often but he knew the signs of it well enough that he could tell Medic was sick. But he was still working, why was he still working when he was sick? When their friends got noticeably sick, Medic always told them to rest so why wasn’t Medic resting?

“Medic?” Pyro said.

Medic didn’t respond. He hadn’t heard, he was too distracted by his work. Pyro understood that, sort of, he often got too distracted by the rainbows to hear what people said around him. But boring old work stuff, really? Whatever.

Pyro approached and poked his shoulder. He mumbled something in German as he turned his head towards Pyro. His voice was shot and rough sounding and his face was flushed with fever, he was _sick_ , he shouldn’t even be in his lab right now let alone _working_. He was doctor he should know better.

“Bed.” Pyro spoke loud and clear to make sure he’d be understood. He even pointed in the direction of the exit.

“It’s not that late, is it?” Medic also tended to stay up _far_ too late and Pyro sometimes had to remind him to go to sleep. Sometimes he even listened to Pyro and went to bed without a fuss, hopefully today would be one of those days.

“Go rest,” Pyro said. “You’re sick.”

“It’s not that bad, I’m fine.” Of _course,_ today wouldn’t be one of the good days, this was _Medic_ , he was stubborn as a donkey. That was okay though, Pyro loved him anyway. “I need to finish this first and then…”

Pyro wrapped his arms around Medic’s middle, squeezing him and heaved him up over his shoulder. He was _heavy_ , Pyro almost toppled over. But he would _never_ drop Medic and managed to right himself despite Medic’s squirming and loud German cursing.

Holding Medic tight, Pyro marched towards he door. He kicked them open and marched out into the hall at which point Medic gave up struggling and swearing, going limp instead. Pyro could put him down now and he’d maybe walk but it wasn’t guaranteed so he kept going, he _had_ to make sure Medic rested.

As they he marched through the common area to head towards the part of the base the housed their rooms, everyone there – the whole rest of the team – turned their heads to look. A couple even said something but Pyro paid them no mind, he was on a mission, a very important mission, he didn’t have time for chit-chat.

“They’re going to figure it out now,” Medic said with a groan. For some reason he thought his and Pyro’s relationship was a secret. He liked it that way – again for reasons unknown but Pyro wasn’t going to question him on that, he hadn’t even shown his face to Medic yet, he was too scared – so Pyro had never told him that all the others already knew. Pyro had overhead them talking about it before it had even become official.

They reached the door to Medic’s room. It would be _much_ harder to kick down though so Pyro was forced to hold Medic with only one arm while he opened and then closed the door once inside. He then dropped Medic onto the bed with less care than he would’ve liked but he was heavy.

“You okay?” Medic asked, sitting up.

Taking a moment to recover from lugging Medic across the entire base, Pyro gave him a thumbs up. He then lay a hand on Medic’s chest and gently pushed him back down.

He scowled for a half a second before relaxing. “You didn’t have to carry me.”

Pyro did though, otherwise Medic would’ve kept working for hours when he needed to be in bed resting.  There was no pointing trying to communicate that though, Medic wouldn’t listen. Instead Pyro pulled Medic’s shoes and then doctor coat off to make him more comfortable, Medic even _let_ him, which spoke volumes about how ill he had feel even if he wouldn’t admit it. He then draped the blanket over Medic.

“Rest, sleep,” Pyro said. He’d figure out what more Medic needed to get better _later_. He _knew_ rest was important so that was what they were focusing on right now.

Medic gave him one of those rare soft looks of his, the kind that he reserved only for his birds and Pyro. “Fine, you win, I’ll rest, happy?”

“Yes.” Pyro clapped and nodded before turning out the lights. He wouldn’t leave until Medic was asleep just to be sure though, it wouldn’t be the first time Medic had lied about doing as he was told.

Medic tossed and turned for a bit before grunting. “If you’re going to stay and watch over me until I fall asleep at least get in bed with me. I don’t need you standing over me like that.”

Pyro couldn’t turn down an invitation like that, he liked cuddles. So he carefully joined Medic on the bed, wrapping his arms around him and snuggling up to him. One day Pyro wanted hold him like this _without_ the flameproof suit separating them. Not today though, he wasn’t ready for that. Maybe he never would be but he wanted it one day, _really_ bad. But for now, he’d take and enjoy this.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“Louder?” Medic said, sounding half a sleep already. That was much faster than normal, was that a good sign or a bad sign?

Pyro didn’t repeat himself. He wasn’t ready for that either even though this wasn’t the first time he’d said it. Nor was it likely to be the last before he said it loud enough that Medic would understand it. What if he could never say it for real though? … No, _that_ at least he’d _for sure_ be ready for one day, not yet though.

Medic mumbled a complaint in German but otherwise shut up and soon he was drifting off. Satisfied, Pyro carefully shifted position so he could slip one of his gloves off to press his hand to Medic’s forehead. It was hot as expected. Was it hot enough to be dangerous though? Or just a light fever? Pyro had no way to know.

But even with that worry present, his heart still skipped a beat or two at the flesh on flesh contact. He stroked his fingertips down Medic’s face, careful not to press too hard or move too fast lest Medic wake up. This wasn’t the first time he’d done this but it was still exciting and a little scary.

How would Medic react if he woke up when Pyro was touching his face? Would he be mad? … Probably not but then how would he react? There was no way of knowing and Pyro didn’t want to find out. So he’d stop after a while, not yet though, he liked this too much to stop yet. One day he’d touch Medic with his hands when he was awake, not yet though, when he was ready to.


	4. Cooking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's set pre-relationship.

It was Medic’s turn to cook. He didn’t want to, he had work to do but he couldn’t get away with shoving the responsibility onto someone else for a third time a row, he’d tried. Meaning he had to either suck it up and just do it or annoy everyone in the base and leave them to starve. The latter was not an unappealing option, if he did it enough times they’d kick him from the rotation of people who cooked and then he’d never have to worry about it again. Not a bad idea.

He looked around the kitchen, no one else was around. With a small shrug he turned on his heel and headed for the exit. He’d go back to his lab and come up with an excuse and just weather people’s annoyance until they moved on as he’d done plenty of times in the past.

Pyro was right outside the kitchen doorway. “Hi,” he said with an exaggerated handwave.

“Hello,” Medic replied. Pyro was the only one who wasn’t going to be annoyed with him, he never seemed to get annoyed with anyone no matter what.

“You’re cooking, right? Can I help?”

Medic sighed. “Why would you want to help?” After Pyro had ‘accidentally’ burnt down most of the kitchen he’d no longer been allowed to cook, for a while he hadn’t even been allowed in the kitchen before everyone had come to the agreement that that was too harsh. He hadn’t shown any interest in getting his cooking rights back so everyone had gladly left it as it was. But now he apparently wanted to help Medic cook.

“Bored…” Pyro started followed by unintelligible nervous mumbling as he wrung his hands together and tilted his head to side.

“I can’t understand you,” Medic said. If it were anyone else he’d be impatient but… he enjoyed Pyro’s company even at the worst of times and didn’t like seeing him sad.

Pyro hesitated before tilting his mask back to look Medic in the face again. “I want to spend time with you,” he said loud and slow so he could be understood through the mask. “I want to help with something, can’t in the lab.” He’d been hanging out in the Medic’s lab for a while now, mostly watching him work and occasionally helping feed the birds. Medic didn’t normally like company while working but Pyro was good at staying out of the way and was good for bouncing ideas off of when Medic needed so he was welcome. “Won’t burn anything down, promise.”

Medic grimaced and took a step back. On one hand he didn’t want to bother with cooking and wanted free of the responsibility, but on the other hand, he felt bad at the thought of turning Pyro down. He shouldn’t, there was no real reason to feel that way, but he did and… it wouldn’t be so bad if Pyro helped, right? And Pyro was promising not to burn anything down, Medic just had to keep an eye on him to make sure he remembered that promise and it’d be fine.

“All right, fine,” Medic conceded with a sigh.

Pyro clapped his hands and did a little dance. It was… endearing and brought a smile to Medic’s face. “You’re too cute for you own good,” he said which made Pyro even happier judging by the renewed enthusiastic clapping. “But come on, I’ll show you how to make _real_ food.”

He turned and headed back into the kitchen, Pyro eagerly following behind him. Maybe this chore wouldn’t be so bad after all, he needed a break from work anyway.


	5. Post War

“So… that’s it then, we won?” Scout’s voice broke through the cloud around Pyro’s mind. He wasn’t ready to leave the happy place of rainbows and unicorns yet but other than his friends and Engie’s sentry gun nothing moved.

That was fine, he’d just make the rainbows dancing on the debris in front of them bigger. He hefted his flamethrower up but a firm hand on his arm stopped him, Medic’s hand. He liked the rainbows but… he liked Medic more. He forced himself to lower it again, resisting the urge to feed the flames and letting Medic’s hand on his arm anchor him more towards reality. Was it really reality though? Or was the happy world the real one? … Didn’t matter, that’s where Medic was grounded so that was where Pyro wanted to be too.

“Looks like it,” Engie said.

They were… talking about today’s battle being done? It was earlier than usual but not by too much, there was always tomorrow.

As they started back towards base the others discussed things. Still half in the happy place, Pyro didn’t bother trying to pay attention, his mind would wonder off anyway. They’re voices didn’t sound happy though, that was odd but none of Pyro’s business.

 

There was a knock of Pyro’s bedroom door. He knew that knock, it was Medic! He hopped off the bed and answered it. Before he could say anything, Pyro hugged him. Medic used to tense up in surprise whenever Pyro embraced him, now though he reciprocated and relaxed into it.

“You’re back from the happy place?” he asked after they separated as he closed the door. Pyro had told him about the happy place a while ago, unlike other people Pyro had told in the past he hadn’t immediately gone to insisting Pyro stop going there or that he seek help to be ‘fixed’. That was when Pyro had decided for sure that he loved him.

“Mostly.” Pyro lifted a hand to give a wavering thumbs up in case his voice wasn’t understood. The happy place always lingered for a few hours but he was mostly as grounded as he could get now.

“Good.” Medic sat on the edge of Pyro’s bed. Pyro sat next to him. “We talked to Miss Pauling and the Administrator, we really did win, there’s nothing else for us to do, we’re out a job.”

“What?” There was no way there wasn’t another enemy to fight. They were fighting robots now, right? There were _always_ more robots.

“Ja, the war’s officially over.”

That wasn’t right. The war wasn’t ever supposed to end. That meant all of Pyro’s friends would leave. He’d be alone again and he wouldn’t be allowed to go to the happy place without a _lot_ of people getting _very_ unhappy with him, the kind of unhappy that ended with Pyro in a padded cell. Worst of all though, that meant _Medic_ would leave.

“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s a big change I know but… I was wondering what you plan to do now?”

Pyro pulled his knees up to hug to his chest, shaking his head. He had no _plans_ ; how could he ever plan for something like this? Back when he’d first joined up, he’d thought it’d be temporary, that’d they’d kick him out for being insane sooner rather than later and then he’d just move on to the next thing, whatever it was, like he’d been doing. But he’d made friends instead and had fallen in love. He didn’t want that to end.

“It’s okay.” Medic put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet either but… you want to come with me?”

Pyro froze, turning his head to look at Medic. “Really? I can come with you?”

“If you want to. I don’t know where I’m going to go though, I don’t think I’m ready to retire yet so maybe I’ll get hired on somewhere else. I like your help with transporting all my medical equipment and birds.” That was his way of indirectly saying he wanted Pyro to come with him to wherever he was going. He was bad at being direct about his feelings sometimes which was kind of cute.

“Yes, I’ll go with you.” It wasn’t something Pyro even needed to think about. He wanted to stay with Medic for ever and ever, he’d even give up the rainbows and the happy place to be with him if that’s what it took.

Medic let out a sigh of relief. “Good,” he said before Pyro hugged him again.

“What about the others?” Pyro asked once he was able to let go Medic. He didn’t want to lose any of them either.

“I think Heavy’s going back to Russia for a time at least, I don’t know about the others yet.”

“We’ll stay in contact?” They’d all been a team for so long Pyro couldn’t imagine never seeing or talking to any one of them ever again. Even if he loved Medic the most, he loved all of them too in different ways.

“I’m sure we will.”

Pyro nodded, the rest of the tension draining from his shoulders. The war was over but he still had his friends and he still had Medic. That’s all Pyro needed to be happy.


	6. Holiday

“Hey guys, I found a mistletoe, do you think if I put it up and got Pauling to stand under it with me, she’d kiss me?”

Medic looked up from the card game he was playing with Pyro and Heavy at Scout standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He was holding a mistletoe, looking at them with a hopeful expression.

“Probably not,” Heavy and Medic said in near unison. It was unlikely he’d even be able to get Pauling under a mistletoe with him.

“You guys suck,” he said before slinking away, defeated. He was probably going to ask someone else and get the same answer before trying his plan anyway, which he’d most likely fail. But it wasn’t Medic’s problem, he looked back down at the cards in his hands.

“What’s a mistletoe?” Pyro asked.

“A parasitic plant,” Medic explained.

“When two people stand under it, they kiss, is tradition,” Heavy added.

Pyro gave a thoughtful hum before looking back down at his cards.

***

“You want to borrow the mistletoe?” Scout asked. What had to be the mistletoe he’d found was still in his possession, hanging off a little stand on his desk. He’d been looking at it forlornly and doodling in his sketchbook when Pyro had barged into his room to ask for it.

Pyro hummed affirmation, nodding and giving Scout a thumbs up.

“Uh… why?”

“I want to kiss Medic.”

“No offense pal but your mask is going to make that hard or uh… more like impossible. Not that you guys aren’t like… super good together or whatever but… yeah, you know?”

Right, there was that and it was the reason why they hadn’t kissed yet despite how long they’d been together. Medic had never complained, he’d never even mentioned it, he was great like that. “I’ll take it off.”

Scout’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I’ll take it off,” Pyro repeated louder and clearer as he mimed taking off his mask, he was used to being misunderstood.

Scout stared at him for several seconds before replying. “Wow, for reals?” Pyro nodded. “You and him are _that_ serious?”

Pyro nodded again. In truth he was _terrified_ by the idea but… he wanted to kiss Medic. He hadn’t considered it before but Scout wanted to kiss Miss Pauling under the mistletoe because he liked her like _that_ and since Pyro liked Medic like _that_ he wanted to kiss him under the mistletoe too. It was an important relationship step.

“Well uh… good luck then.” Scout unhooked the mistletoe and handed it to Pyro. “Bring it back later though, I still need to figure out a plan to get Pauling under it with me.”

Torn between fear and excitement, Pyro gave him a thumbs up before prancing out. Maybe there was a way he could kiss Medic without showing his face yet, that would make it less scary.

***

Pyro’s grip on Medic’s hand as he led him down the hall towards him room was tighter than usual. Was it excitement or fear over whatever this was about? He was clearly eager about whatever it was, enough that Medic had let him pull him away from his work with only a token protest.

Once they were in his room Pyro closed and barred the door. He’d never barred it when Medic was in here before, presumably he only did so whenever he took his suit off. Did that mean… no, surely not.

“Look,” Pyro said, pointing up.

Medic looked up, hanging above them by a string was a mistletoe. His heart skipped a beat as he looked at it and then down at Pyro and then back up at it. It was _obvious_ what Pyro wanted but… they couldn’t kiss properly as long as Pyro wore his mask. So… what should Medic do? Tell him that? Just kiss his mask? Or… something else?

“I want to kiss you,” Pyro said before Medic could decide. “But could you…” He hesitated before pulling a black cloth out of his pocket, a blindfold. “I want to kiss you but I’m… not ready… I’m sacred, so could you…” his nervous mumbles became indecipherable but the way he held the blindfold towards Medic, his hand trembling as he looked away made it clear what he was asking for.

Medic took the blindfold from him. “Yes, I can do that.” They’d been together for months, it was past time for them to have their first kiss, right? If this was how Pyro was most comfortable doing it then Medic would accommodate him.

He removed his glasses first, placing them in his coat pocket. He then pulled the blindfold up and wrapped it around his head, tying it at the back. The cloth was thick, he couldn’t see through it even a little bit.

“Thank you,” Pyro said followed by silence.

He would be taking off his mask, right? _Right_ in front Medic. He’d often wondered what Pyro’s face looked like under the mask, now all he had to do to find out was reach his hands up and pull the blindfold down.

Curiosity burned like fire in his chest as his hands _itched_ to do just that, he _needed_ to see what was under the mask. He’d been fine not knowing before but now the option to find out was being presented to him. That would betray Pyro’s trust in him though, would it be worth it? … If it were _anyone_ else the answer would’ve been a resounding ‘ _yes_!’ but this was Pyro. What they had together was special and… he couldn’t bring himself to ruin it. So for perhaps the first time in his life – certainly the first time in a long while – he wouldn’t give into his burning curiosity.

“I know you want to see.” That was Pyro’s voice, unmuffled, meaning he’d taken the mask off for sure. But Medic’s hands stayed at his sides, clenched into fists, he was _not_ going to remove the blindfold. “I’ll show you one day, I promise. I’m not ready yet though.”

“Whenever you’re ready is fine,” Medic said. “But about that kiss?”

“Yes! Exciting.” Pyro clapped before he was suddenly hugging Medic, tight and loving but brief. “I’ve never kissed anyone before,” he said as he stepped back.

“Neither have I.” Unless kissing his birds’ cute little foreheads counted, which it probably didn’t. “You’re going to have to take the lead though, I can’t see.”

Suddenly Pyro was right in front of him again. He smelled of all things related to fire, a scent Medic had learned to find soothing. Pyro kissed him first on the cheek and then on the mouth. Medic didn’t have anything to compare it to but… it was nice. The only flesh on flesh contact they’d had before this was through Pyro’s hands once he got comfortable enough to start sometimes taking his gloves off when they were alone together.

Before Pyro could withdraw again, Medic put his arms around him to pull him in for a deeper kiss. Neither of them had any experience in this type of thing but they made up for it with passion. This was something that had been a long time coming, Medic hadn’t known he’d needed this until now.

“That was really nice,” Pyro said when they broke apart for air. He was speaking softly but without his mask he was still understandable, a _very_ nice change. He hugged Medic again, tight enough to lift his feet an inch or two off the ground. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”


	7. Free Day

Part of Medic resented Pyro’s suit and mask at times. Not only did his innate curiosity fill him with the need to know what was underneath but it also made true physical contact impossible, separating them in a way. But even though he could never truly understand why Pyro needed them – beyond the need for the fire protection they brought while he performed his role as the team’s pyrotechnics master – Medic could still respect it. Pyro would take them off when he was ready to, they’d take it one step at a time.

The gloves came off first.

Pyro liked holding hands, he was a very touchy-feely kind of person. It had taken a little while to get used to but now that he had Medic quite enjoyed it, even if he had trouble expressing that at times. So it didn’t surprise him when after packing up his work for the night – at Pyro’s insistence that he needed to go to bed – Pyro slunk next to him to hold his hand while they walked.

There was something off about it though. For one, Pyro was silent and seemed hesitant and two, his hand felt weird – Medic always took his gloves off for paperwork. It felt almost like…

Medic stopped dead in his tracks and looked down. Yep, Pyro’s hand in his _was_ ungloved. Pyro squeezed his hand tight as if afraid Medic would let go. It was warm and felt smaller without the rubber glove.

“You okay?” Pyro said, the tenseness in his voice audible even with the mask muffling it.

Medic jerked himself back into motion and continued walking, holding Pyro’s hand a little bit tighter. “Yes, I’m fine. How was your day today?” He would pretend like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Some of the tension in Pyro’s posture faded and his death grip on Medic’s hand loosened a little. “Good, very good.” Even his muffled voice was filled with relief.

 

Next came the mask but _only_ when Medic was blindfolded or it was too dark too see anything. And somehow Medic always resisted the urge to slip the blindfold off or turn the lights back on, as much as he wanted to see Pyro’s face, he couldn’t bear to bring himself to betray his trust. It was _fascinating_ , he never would’ve dreamed that such a thing was possible for him.

Then one night he was pulled back from the brink of sleep when Pyro – who’s bed they were on – pulled away from him. The way the bed dipped and rolled meant he was getting out of bed entirely.

“Liebling, where are you going?” he mumbled, barely remembering to speak English.

There was no reply other than what rustling sound. A short while later the bed dipped as Pyro sat back down and then cuddled up to him again. There was no suit though!

“Is this okay?” Pyro whispered, pressing his face into Medic’s chest. His arms around him was the only thing that kept Medic from shooting upright.

“Ja, this… is okay.” Medic took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. Hesitantly, he stroked a hand down Pyro’s back, he was wearing what felt like soft pajamas. “As long as you’re okay with this anyway.”

Pyro was trembling slightly but otherwise seemed far more relaxed than expected. “I like this, it’s nice. I love you.”

“I love you too.” It wasn’t the first time he’d said it but the words still felt weird on his lips. At the same time though they felt _right_.

When Medic woke up the next morning Pyro was gone from his side. He’d put his suit and mask back on and sat by the bed instead, waiting for Medic to wake up too. That was fine though, he’d show Medic his face when he was ready to, Medic could wait.

***

Spy answered Pyro’s second knock. “Can I ask you something?” Pyro said, forcing himself to speak loud enough to be understood through the mask. “It’s important.” Spy was the only one who would understand, right? He was the oldest – and therefore wisest – and he hid his face too, not as thoroughly as Pyro did but still.

“Of course,” Spy said as he stepped back, allowing Pyro to step into his room.

Inside a fire danced in the small fireplace. Pyro’s eyes were _drawn_ to it. The dancing rainbows _urged_ him to feed them, make them bigger and bigger until the whole room and then world was filled with pretty rainbows. They were _deadly_ though but that only made them more alluring, giving into that urge would bring him to the happy place where all his problems and stress would melt away.

Spy stepped in front of him, blocking his view. “You need me to extinguish that?”

Pyro took a few seconds to breathe and collect himself before nodding. He was here to ask something _important_ , he couldn’t let himself get distracted and burn down the base, that would endanger his friends and Medic. He was only supposed to share the rainbows with the bad guys, the guys they were all being paid to kill. So he forced himself to look away while Spy doused the fire.

“There, done,” Spy said, drawing Pyro’s gaze back to him. Now there was nothing but a trail of smoke raising out of the ashes and half burnt log of firewood, a sad sight but for the best. “Now what is it you want to ask me?”

“Is it bad that I hide my face all the time?” Pyro had never questioned that before but… now that he wanted to show his face to Medic he was doing so. He was scared to do it even though he shouldn’t be, right?

“Come again?” Spy said.

Talking clearly was hard when he was so nervous but he _had_ to. So he repeated himself, forcing himself enunciate more.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with hiding your face, I do it. We all have our reasons for hiding things.”

But Pyro didn’t _have_ a reason to hide his face. He had no reason or desire to hide his identity and wasn’t worried anyone would find him ugly or would hate his face for some other reason, it was just… _scary_ to show his face to people. Even to his friends or the person he loved the most, Medic. It was illogical. “Have you ever shown you face to anyone?”

“A few people yes.”

Pyro wouldn’t ask who or why, it was none of his business and thus he had no desire to know. “Was it scary?”

Spy thought for a few seconds, taking out a cigarette to put in his mouth but not lighting it, before answering. “A little, yes. But I imagine the reason I hide my face isn’t the same as yours.” Definitely not, Spy undoubtedly _had_ a reason that made sense.

“I want to show my face to Medic but I’m scared.” He _trusted_ Medic more than anyone, a trust that had proven to be well founded when Medic didn’t make any move to look at his face when he _could have_ , so why was it still scary?

“What exactly are you afraid of?”

“I… don’t know.” Oh, he didn’t want to think about this right now, he wanted to go outside and start a fire and enjoy the rainbows and his happy place for a while instead. But he couldn’t, this was more important, _Medic_ was more important.

“I’m not sure what advice I can give then. I’m not even sure _why_ you came to me of all people for advice anyway, it’s not really my thing. But I guess… it’s okay to be afraid, that’s a big thing. Just don’t think about it too much, show him your face and ignore your fears.” Spy shrugged. “He loves you, you know that, so nothing bad can happen.”

Pyro stepped forward and hugged him. That’s want he’d wanted, someone to tell him to just do it and that it was okay for him to be afraid. “Thank you,” he said as he stepped back. “I’ll do that.”

 

Pyro far and above preferred holding Medic’s hand without a glove on. He’d forgotten to take it off this time because today was _the day_. He was excited but also _scared_ but he needed to just _do_ it and it would be all right. After talking to Spy about it last night he felt ever so slightly less scared so he needed to do this before the small measure of confidence that talk had given him faded.

He led Medic to his room and barred the door behind them. It wasn’t necessary to do that, no one on the team had _ever_ entered his room without permission, not even Scout, but it made him feel better anyway. And anything that would help calm his nerves right now he was going to do, except for retreating from the situation and going to the happy place because he _needed_ to do this.

“What is this about?” Medic asked when Pyro hesitated. He’d followed without complaint, meaning he’d picked up on Pyro’s urgency – he’d gotten _very_ good at that.

“Uh…” Pyro wrung his hands together before carefully removing his gloves, stalling for time. Should he say something first or just take off the mask? If he _should_ say something what was it?

“Whenever you’re ready,” Medic said, his posture and tone relaxed. His patience was a godsend, he wasn’t pushing Pyro to do anything or asking what was wrong, just letting him say what it was on his own terms.

It would be fine, he trusted and loved Medic and Medic trusted and loved him so… he just had to do it. Closing his eyes, he reached a hand and pulled the mask off in one shift movement.

His heart raced as he kept his eyes shut. There was _no_ reason to be scared but he _was_. He should be okay with this now though, it was Medic and he’d done this several times before, but _only_ when Medic wouldn’t be able to see his face. He needed to hide and escape and…

A warm hand cupped his face. He opened his eyes too see Medic looking at him with a soft expression on his face. “You look beautiful,” he said.

Blushing, Pyro lifted a shaky hand to touch Medic’s wrist. “You… really think so?” Thankfully without the mask he didn’t have to enunciate as much, he wouldn’t have been able to do so in this state.

“Yes.” Medic leaned in to kiss him. Kisses were _nice_ , especially kissed on the lips, they were almost as good hugging and cuddling.

When the broke apart his irrational fear had dimmed to a low shimmer. Due to experience doing other things he found scary – such as taking his mask off to kiss Medic while they were in the darkness or Medic was blindfolded – he knew that would fade after a few times of doing this. The need to run out and burn something down to lose himself in the land of rainbows and pink fluffy clouds was gone, he far preferred it here with Medic anyway.

“You… want me to take off the suit too?” he asked.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine,” Medic replied. He was the best.

Hands still shaking a little, Pyro got himself out of the suit. He was well practiced in this by now and it came off easily despite its unruliness. He’d taken a shower before going to Medic’s lab to bring him here for this so he was still clean and fresh from that. He wore pajamas underneath as usual too.

Once done messing with the suit, he sat on the bed with Medic. It was _weird_ and scary to be out of the suit when someone else was around, he felt almost naked. How long had it been since he’d done this? … He couldn’t remember, his memory wasn’t very good though so it might not mean much that he could remember.

“Do you think it was silly of me to be afraid of doing this?” Despite his nervousness he spoke loud and clear, it was habit when he had something important to say. “There’s… no reason for it, I was just scared, still am a little.”

“Nein, it’s not silly. It’s okay to be scared. Now, come here.” Medic opened his arms in an invitation to hug.

Pyro was _more_ than happy to accept it. He hugged him tight and nuzzled into him, letting them shift their position so they’d be comfortable lying in each other’s arms. Cuddling was better without the mask and suit. Being so close made him less afraid too, it always did no matter what he was afraid of.

Pyro’s earlier fear and nervousness was worth this. If only he’d had the bravery to do this sooner. But maybe one day he’d be able to take off the suit and mask around his friends too, for now though this was more than enough.


End file.
